Though by nature, they’re predator and prey, a set of kittens and their mother have taken to an orphaned squirrel like he is one of them.

The squirrel was discovered by eight-year-old Bailee Schultz, who heard the squirrel whimpering a few weeks ago in a wooded area of his grandparents' property in Bay County's Bangor Township, Michigan.

Grandmother Stephanie Box told MLive.com Bailee brought her to the squirrel, which was under a nest and less than a week old.

New family: A set of kittens and their mother have taken to an orphaned squirrel like he is one of them in Bay County's Bangor Township, Michigan after Bailee Schultz, 8 heard the squirrel whimpering weeks agoAfter rescuing the squirrel by picking him up in a coffee can, Ms Box said she placed the squirrel they call Bushytail with her cat, Oreo, who recently gave birth to five kittens.

The next day, Ms Box says the squirrel was nursing side-by-side with the kittens.

They've also seen Oreo groom Bushytail, though they say she is a little leery of how Oreo feels about the rodent.

Ms Box says Oreo may not have fully accepted the squirrel, however, since she once moved the kittens but left Bushytail behind.

They want Oreo to keep an eye on Bushytail for a while, but said they’ll give the squirrel all due freedom when he’s old enough.

‘He’ll be free as any of the cats,’ Norwell Box told MLive.com.

‘We’ll try to feed him to keep him around, if we can,’ Ms Box added.

Best friends: The boy told his grandmother Stephanie Box about the squirrel named Bushytail on her property and she placed it with her cat, Oreo, who recently gave birth to five kittens